Tag Archives: edible mushrooms

•

We've had several small storms that brought enough moisture for the first King Boletes to appear. Amy Ruegg found what might have been the very first one.

Several others have found porcini too. And CeCe Case found a Chanterelle. They are being found in moist areas. The spots I find them have not seen any appear...yet!

Thanks to Amy for allowing me to share her photo with  you here. It's always a good time of year when the first edible mushrooms appear.

A smattering of rain was heard last night while I, and others, celebrated the SF Giants baseball win. Today is beautiful, sunny and breezy. The horizon is clear so if you are on the coast, look for a possible green flash at sunset. Below is a photo taken by Peter Cracknell of a green flash. It only lasts for a second, so don't blink!

•

The weather hasn't been kind to mushrooms lately. It's been too warm and the humidity has been very low. That is drying up many of them. However Cece Case found a pristine Red-capped Butter Bolete, which she cooked up with onion and bacon. YUM!

Rick and I found two of these edible mushrooms in our forest but they were full of bugs. They don't fruit every year so it's a treat to see them. You can see a blue mark on the stem where Cece touched this mushroom. Staining blue is one of the identifiers of this mushroom.

Once again we have a sunny, low humidity day. While it is beautiful out, we need some rain.

Thanks to Cece for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

•

Maria Kostick found this Yellow Chanterelle in the forest.

A delicious edible, Chanterelles are a treat to find. We have warm, sunny weather for the next week. Hopefully many more edible mushrooms will appear.

Thanks to Maria for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

•

I had tossed a tennis ball for our golden retriever, Sunny. It rolled down a slope and, since I am a better retriever than Sunny, I had to go get the ball. When I looked at the hillside, there was this nice big chanterelle.

Actually it was the first of many. And hedgehog mushrooms are up too. All delicious edibles and gifts from the forest.

•

That's the title of David Arora's pocket field guide to mushrooms. And as he lives on the Mendonoma coast, pretty much all foragers here have this guide. Here are some mushrooms that have recently arrived on our property in Anchor Bay.

First I was happy to find a couple of Queen Boletes a few days ago. They have a darker cap than the Kings, and their stem isn't as fat. They are delicious. When I trim them and remove the sponge underneath the cap, I gather up the trimmings and scatter them outside in suitable habitat - yes, I'm hoping for more!

queen-bolete-by-jeanne-jackson Also fruiting in abundance now is the edible amanita, Coccora. These mushrooms have a deadly lookalike, so you must be extremely careful with  your identification. They are nicknamed "Creamy Tops," as one of their characteristics is a cottony-like white top. You can scrape it off with your finger.

coccoras-by-jeanne-jackson-2The Fly Amanitas are also up in abundant numbers. I love watching these mushrooms evolve as they grow. Arora will tell you they are edible if you parboil them twice, throwing out the water between boiling. I find them in sunny spots here.

fly-amanita-by-jeanne-jacksonIn this basket I also have Matsutakes. They are so distinctive, with their cinnamon smell. They grow in sandy soil.

a-basket-of-mushrooms-by-jeanne-jacksonThe wonderful rains have brought back mushrooms after five sub-par years. For the many critters in the forest that feast on them, including we two-legged critters, we rejoice in their return.

David Arora has a mushroom event coming up soon. To learn more, here is his website: http://www.davidarora.com/events.html